Tile-making machine.



W. Il II/ICCRACIIEIII.' TILE IIIIAKI'IIG IIIIACHIIIE. APPLICATION FILEDMAYIS. 1914-1 w. 1. MCQRACKEN. TILE MAKINGMACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAYI3, 1914.

" sierras raaf orricri WILLIAM J. MCCRACKENQOE SIOUX CITY, IOWA.

TILE-MAKING MACHINE.

10 all fr0/0m 'it may conce/rn Be it known tha't I, VILLIAM J. MC-

. Cirxcimiv, a citizen of the United States,'re-

siding at Sioux City, in the county of Woodbury and State of Iowa, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Tile- Making` Machines,ofv which the following is a specification.

This invention relates particularly to Inachines forforming sewer tilesor -tile Sections provided with a bell end and it is the object of myinvention tto providea machine and a formemtherefor so designed'as toefficiently mold, pack and smooth the bellend of a tile.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a device of this classwith a rotatable former adapted to form an annular shoulder in one endof a tile section and a separate former for forming the body por tion ofthe tile 'sectioin It is a further object of my invention t0 provide aJformer or packer head for a device of this class with adjustablewearing plates orwings.

The above and other features of novelty. advantages and capabilitieswill become ap-s parent from a detailed description of the acconipanyingdrawings in which l have illustrated one practical embodiment of theinvention,`but the construction shown therein is'ito be considered asillustrative only and not as defining the limits of the invention.

Referring` to the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a tilemaking machine em-4 bodying` one form of my invent-ion. Fig. 2 is afront view of the machine shown in Fig'. 1 illustratingthe position ofthe upper and lower foi-mers whilel forming` the first por-- tion of thetile. Fig. 3 is, a similaryiew illustrating` the position ofthe vupperand lower formers after the complete tile has been formed. Fig. l is fanenlarged cross sectional view of the mold showing the `up. per and lowerformer-s in a position corre4 spending to that shown in Fig. 2;. Fig. 5is a cross sectional view taken onthe line .of Fig. e, looking in thedirection indicated by the arrows, showing a plan of the upperformer.Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on Specification of Letti rs Patent.

`and described in my pending application.

sel-iai No. 579,812, mcd aug-usr ai. i910.

Referring to the drawings in detail. rl`he machine comprises a framework 10 in which is rotatably mounted a former sha-ft 11 carrying anupper former 1L) which shaft is driven by the power sl r l't 13 by meansof a suitable connection such as the belt. 14. From this it will be seenthat fthe former shaft 11 carrying the upper former is rotated wheneverthe power is operatively connected with the power shaft 13. 'hile thispower'shaft is rotated, power is also transmitted to means forreciprocating the shaft 11 so as toginove the upper former into and outof the mold 15, which means comprises a worin rigidly secured to thepower shaft 13 and meshing with a worm gear 1G to which gear ispivotally connected a link 17. said link being at its opposite endpivotally connected with the walking beam 18 through a suitable bracketconnection as shown. lt will thus be seen that while the gear 16 ismaking a complete revolution, the walking beam moves up and down makinga` complete cycle for moving the upper former 12 downwardlysubstantially to the bottom of the mold l5 where it is retained for ashort period. (by means of the curved slot connection. in the walkingbeam) then again' l have therefore in my=.present invention broughtforth improvements for accomplishing` this purpose 4'which I will nowdescribe.

Rotatably'mounted'in the support 19, is a short shaft which is heldagainst vertical displacement with respect thereto by means of a` pairof collars rigidly secured to said shaft on each side ofthe support 19.F ixed to the upper end of the shaft 20, is the loweiI former 21 andatthe opposite end, `a pulley 22, both 4of which are adapted tooivgotatetherewith. It will thus be seen that 'b y tating the pulley 22 (whichmay'be'cconi- PatentediY ov. 9, 1915. Appiication med May 1a. 1914.seriai No. 838.263.

plished by any suitable means, suoli for instance, as the beltconnectingwith the power shaft 13 as shown) the former 21 is Caused torotate, thus firmly packing the bell end of the tile and smoothing theinterior surface thereof. For raising the former 21 from the positioi.shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 2, I have provided a pair of rods2l slidably mounted in suitable brackets at each side of the machinewhich are connected at their lower ends to the support 19 and near theirupper ends, by any suitable means, to the arms 25 which arms are atltheir opposite ends rigidly fixed to a shaft 2G. This shaft has rigidlysecured` thereto a third zii-m27 which-arm carries at its free nnd asuitable roller adapted to be engaged by the cam 28, which cam is fastto the shaft 29 on which the worm gear 16 is mounted. It will thuscbeseen that when the worm gear 16 is caused to rotate through itsconnection with the power shaft 13, the cam .23 engages the arm andpartially rotates the shaft QG which in turn causes the free end of thearms 25 to move upwardly, raising with them the support 19 vandnecessarily the former 2l through the connection of the rods 2+. Theraising'of the lower former is, of course,

-timed so that it is in its uppermost position when the upper former isin its loweimost position. y

The lower former'is somewhat larger in diameter than the upper one andis dislied concentrically of its center to receive the lower portion 30of the upper former as shown in dotted lines Fig. 4, The periphery' orsurface of the lower former is recessed as best show-n in Fig. 6 bymeans of` which the material is firmly packed and troweled. rIhe portion30n of the upper former which actually does the packing and forming, isof an oblong shape and is provided at its opposite corners withadjustable plate 31 as bestshown in Fig. 5.-

While thus far I havedescribed the lower former as driven from the powershaft 13 'through the vconnection Q3, it may also be driven by meansofthe former shaft 11. To accomplish this, it requires a modification oftheconstruction of the upper land lower former which I have shown inFig. 8. Re-

'i ferring to this ligure, it will be seen that the upper former l2 hasat its underside a downwardly extending cone shaped portion 15S-adaptedto fit into an inverted corresponding shaped recess in the lower former21.- If necessary, the surface of the cone shaped portion 13 .and thesurface of the inverted corresponding recess in the lower former may becorrugated, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 8 to insure the turningof one with the other when in` contact. However, I do not think thiswill be necessary as the formers can be forced together with asufficiently tight fit through the means heretofore described to insurevthis result. In case the modification shown in Fig. 8 is used, therewill, of course, be no occasion for the pulley 22, however, the shaft 20would in that case be arranged on the support 19 in thesame manner asheretofore described. i

my present invention is applied to the"ina,

chine illustrated in the drawings and that the parts are in the positionshown in Figs. l and 2, the power is turned on which causes both theupper and lower former-sto rotate within the mold, the material forvforming the tile is then poured into the mold 13 through a hopper 32where it drops down past the upper former 12 and into the recesses 33 inthe lower former which former rotates in the direction indicated by theai'- rows whereby this material is forced outwardly and firmly packedagainst the mold leaving a perfectlysmooth `surface on the interior. Theraising and lowering of these forme'rs is so timed that the lower one isreturned to its normal position (shown in Fig.

3) after the material at the lower end of the' .cations than the formsillustrated in the drawings and hereinbefore specifically described butI do not wish to be understood as limiting myselfto the specific formsshown, except in those claims where these features are specified.

I claim:

1. In a tile making machine, thecombination of upper and lower rotaryformers adapted to operate in a suitable mold, means for moving saidformers together and means for moving said formers in oppositedirections. f

2; In a tile making machine, the combination of an upper and lowerformeradapted to operate in a suitable mold, means for moving saidformers together near one end of the mold form forming the bell end \ofa tile section andv means for gradually moving the upper former awayfrom'the lower Yfor moving said former into and out of said 1I: va tilemaking machine, Vtion of airotary 4former for making the bell end ofthev tile a kformer for making niold, said means comprising a supportfor sai'dlform'er, ai'fpair of links connecting said support witha-pairfof arms fixed to a shaft and means forlpartially rotating saidshaft.

la In a tile making machine, the combina,

tion'of a suitable vmold provided with a bell A'e'r id?,ja rotaiy formeradapted to operate injtliezA bell end ofl said mold'and means for mongfsaid former into and out of the bell "lend "vsiaidmold, said meanscomprising a supportf for said former, apair of lmks con.

necting-said. support with a pair of arms vvfixed" to a shaft and meansfor partially rotating said shaft for .the purpose set forth.

j In a tile making machine, the eombination of a rotatableformer adaptedto move into the bell end of a suitable mold for forming the bell end4of a tile section, means forrotating the former and means for raisingand lowering the former without int-errupting the rotation thereof.

the combinathefbody of the tile, s aid body former. being Y, adapted topartially tlescope with said bell ifbrmenfgmeans for bringing saidformers A intotelescoping relation to form the bell end of the tile anda 4portion of the body adj aof two witnesses.

cent, thereto, including means for thereafter moving said bodyformeraway from said beill former for eompleting the body of the ti e.

7. Ina tile making machine, a bell former comprising packing elements, abody former comprising a packing wing and a disk portion adapted tocarry up surplus material and interiorly polish the body of the tile,means for bringing said formersvtogether for formingthe bell of the tileand a portion adjacent thereto, including means for causing said diskportion to telescope into said bell former whereby during the formationof the bell of the tile said bell former and packing wing 'will beadjacent, and for thereafter withdrawing said body former from the bellformer to complete the tile.

8. In a tile making machine the combination of a rotary former formaking the bell end of a tile, with another rotary former for making thebody thereof and means for moving said formers together to form the bell`end and a portion adjacent thereto and for `thereafter moving vthemapart to complete the tile.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe vmy name to this speoiiicationin the'presence W. J. MGCRACKEN.

Witnesses:

A LOUISE REED,

E. A. Buizenss.

